Feature

The best 20 bands went through with their evaluation in the SMS round. And now they sit put, with their fingers crossed, as BAMBA and the whole country vote for the best 16.

The fate of these rock bands are now in the hands of the viewers as well, since 40% of the evaluation will be based on the text messages that the television viewers will be sending from all over the country. Being one of the judges is not a simple task. Choosing 'the one' is by far one of the most significant decisions ever to be taken by anybody.

Radioactive(DHK)	Metafaze (Raj)	Dreek (DHK)

So a few of the judges were asked about how the audience should go about the process of SMS voting.

“What I think is that, the audience first of all needs to perceive the concept of what a band is, as in they should acknowledge the presence of each member in the band. Band attitude is the first point in the line to be judged which is followed by individual performance. Sound is also another vital element, which, in most cases, does not do justice to the performance. Nevertheless, if at the end of the day the performance as a whole feels right, the listener/TV viewer should go along with his gut feelings.” Says Balam from Warfaze.

Mechanix(DHK)	New Rainbow (BAR)	Brtitto(Raj)	Biborno (CTG)

On a similar note Sumon from Aurthohin says, “The genre of rock music is vast. Not everyone understands the concept well. In most cases, the audience decides upon the band's quality based on only the vocal's performance and not the overall performance. And not only that, they also have a tendency to swing from one band to another based on flimsy reasons. That is why during the process of SMS voting, one should stick to the band he/she thinks deserves to win and avoid voting for more than once at the same time.”

The process of SMS voting became popular from the days of the Close-up 1 contests in Bangladesh. When asked about its effectiveness, Balam says, “The SMS culture in our country is 'risky'; probably because most of the people in the audience do not have a considerable amount of knowledge in music, be it in the grass root level or elsewhere. That is why the process of finding an ultimate rock band such as the Drockstar might find a few loopholes in its evaluation.”

Bortoman(KHL)	Core	Off street

“We have put a lot of effort and thought in the audition rounds to find the best 20. Also the grooming session helped them a lot as the difference is evident in their performance. I think if they get the proper guidance, these bands are bound to bring a positive change in the music arena of Bangladesh,” adds Sumon, talking about the improvements that took place after the grooming sessions of the selected rock bands.

Stay tuned for the results this week as four of the 20 bands get eliminated, leaving the 16 for the next performance round. Switch on to Channel i every Tuesday and Thursday at 7.50 pm to watch your favourite bands rock the stage!